Derailment Raises Response Concerns

A Polk Official Says The Emergency-notification Plan May Need `Fine-tuning.'

July 10, 2004|By Keith W. Kohn, Sentinel Staff Writer

AUBURNDALE -- As passengers sat in their seats after a Miami-bound train derailed Thursday, state officials and local police were notified but city firefighters were not.

So it was fortuitous, officials said Friday, that no one was hurt among the 156 passengers and crew members aboard the Silver Star after the 4:17 p.m. mishap, when the locomotive and luggage car jumped the rails as the Amtrak train crawled at 8 mph near a switch track.

Rail officials continued to look into the cause of the incident in this central Polk County community.

The mishap was so minor that the National Transportation Safety Board did not plan to look into the matter, a spokesman said, relying instead on investigators with the track's operator, Jacksonville-based CSX Corp.

CSX spokesman Gary Sease said investigators planned to determine whether the track, the train or the crew were to blame for the accident. He said results of the investigation should be ready next week.

He said the train cars were returned to the rails about 10 p.m. Thursday and the tracks were reopened at 3:55 a.m. Friday, fewer than 12 hours after the derailment.

Meantime, city and county officials were assessing how well the established notification system worked.

Pete McNally, Polk County's emergency-management program manager, said some fine-tuning might be needed.

"I'm not sure what their procedures are," he said of CSX.

Sease said the railroad has procedures in place for such circumstances. Rail dispatchers "are in constant communication with the trains, both freight trains and Amtrak," he said.

Amtrak, meanwhile, resumed service through Central Florida on Friday. While the company had no plans to offer passengers vouchers or other discounts en masse, Golgoski said, individuals may call customer service for redress.

"Typically, unless it's a catastrophic event, we don't offer that," she said. "This wasn't something that was in our power."